Cherry Blossom Trees
by romanticfor3ver
Summary: Shiki and Rima Love Story...
1. The First Time Meeting You

Chapter One- The First Day Meeting You

The sky blue from sadness that the sun hadn't come out yet was held high by the clouds as it watched all below laugh and play. Cross Academy had just been opened by the one and only Kaien Cross, it was to be a prestigious academy for the talented, however there would be one change to that once the vampires had come. They would be placed in a separate class at night, so not to harm the day students which would be the human students that attended.

Pinky bright eyes and long blonde hair tied into two ponytails were the qualities that had attracted Shiki to Rima on first sight when they were waiting in the line for their application interviews. He had not that much courage to say to her hello, so he just stood there staring at here while the other vampires tried pushing him forward as to not hold up the line, "what the hell are you doing?!" were the yells that came from behind him, but he heard none of it and continued to stand there while the line in front of him moved forward.

Shiki on the other hand was not much of a catch; he had brown hair in ruffled layers that had not been brushed in the rush to get to Cross Academy. He had heard that one of the applicants would be a pureblood vampire, and that was what that had attracted him to this particular academy. Not much of an academy though, only three buildings and two of them were the dorms for the classes and there was not much space in the middle of everything to do anything, meaning it was very crowded.

He was next… he approached the door and waited for Rima to come out so he could say hello, but her shoulder only brushed against his and she did not even notice. "Come in!" he shivered in the brightness of the fluorescent lights that were on the ceiling. "Hello, I am Shiki." I would like to come to Cross Academy because of….her…."his mouth slipped=).

"Excuse me?" the chairman questioned quietly laughing inside.

He snapped himself back to reality from her bright brown eyes and cute pony tails, "oh sorry, I would like to come to Cross Academy because of the wonderful reputation that I have heard from other people that attend this Academy…and her…."his mouth slipped again.=)

"Okay that's enough, you are IN!" the Chairman was laughing so hard that he fell to the ground before he could shake Shiki's hand. Enormously embarrassed by his comments about that girl to the Chairman of Cross Academy he slipped out of the door as quietly as he could and went walking around the school.

------------

The sky was all kinds of grey and pink as he lay in the garden staring at it and somehow that girl's big pink eyes came into mind. He did not notice that Rima had wondered into the garden also and she sat down at the end of the bench, although she did not notice that Shiki had already taken the seat. "Hey you! Don't you see that there is already someone here?!"

Rima turned her attention to Shiki, "I already know, I just wanted to ask you something, you were the person that was talking about a girl to the Chairman right?" a red tinge began to appear on his cheeks…

"Yes… how did that go around so fast? Were not even in the school yet and there is already a rumor that is circulating."

The End of the First Chapter

_Dearest readers, sorry for the short chapter but I hope that you enjoyed it._

_Please review too._


	2. Here's my Heart

Chapter Two- here's my 3

_A pounding heart, a sweat drenched hand and a hopelessly dry mouth…_

Her scent was arousing and vexed his thoughts, occupying his head with her perfect eyes, perfect hair and perfect figure. They were in English class, studying Romeo and Juliet; trying to figure out who would be right for the parts. Before his mind could tell him what was happening he had volunteered for his part in reading the manuscript. To no notice of him Rima had also volunteered for the part and had already stepped to the front of the classroom. It took Shiki a few moments before he realized that he had volunteered for the part. Slowly he paced himself to the front of the room where **she **was standing.

He looked into her eyes while she spoke but one line that would strike his head for the rest of the day, "Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou?"

"Here," he whispered stupidly while the whole class laughed hysterically at him while they applauded Rima for her excellent speaking.

After the embarrassment was over she began to think, maybe this guy wasn't that bad, and for the rest of the day she could think of nothing but him. But something stuck in her head, how would she be able to help her parents comprehend the fact that they could not control the feelings of their 14 year old daughter anymore? Her parents were very traditional and as a consequence they still believed in the tradition arrangements of marriage. Soon she would have to marry someone from their own culture.

Rima was actually from France and had moved because of her father's will. She did not expect to find what she had found here but… who knows? Her parents might accept Shiki; all she had to do now was to make him speak to her.

That night was the freshman's ball, for all the new people that had just entered Cross Academy and there was a rush to get the most beautiful dress to stand out from the crowd. Rima was just hanging around the girls' dorms waiting for her mother to give her dress. Her mother, a famous fashion designer was hoping that she would follow in her footsteps into the fashion industry. In fact, Rima had already followed them, since she was also a famous model; though that had never come up in her other world of vampires.

------

_They were mysterious, they were beautiful, and they were vampires… _

It was the time of the ball and Shiki was standing in the corner of the room hidden from the rest of the students with his best friend Aidou by his side, "aren't you going to dance with anyone?" he questioned into the silence of their acquaintance.

"No," he said simply looking into the distance of the room again wondering whether she had arrived yet.

Aidou took this as a clue, "you're waiting for her to come, then you're going to ask her, aren't you?" he teased.

"No," he said again, more stubborn.

"Oh well," he reminded as he went off in search of Ruka in the far north of the ballroom.

Finally she had come to the ball; wearing such a stunning black and blue strapped dress, he climbed off the balcony that he was resting upon and raced down the stairs to take her hand. "You look wonderful." He commented. She took the compliment with as much as grace as was possible to disturb him from his other thoughts about her that she suspected that he might be having at that moment.

"I think that we should dance now," she suggested as the music began to play loudly echoing in the large room. He took her hand and her waist shyly as the melody rung through his ears and into his heart as he looked shyly away from her distant bright eyes fearful that they may take him away forever. "This is 'nice'," she hinted into his ear.

Despite her reactions to what he had said to her previous to their encounter in this freshman ball, she perceived that he was a somewhat decent person; however, unfortunately her parents would never allow her to have someone like him and would rather prefer her to have someone nobler such as Aidou. However, since their encounters, he had convinced her enough to give him a chance and she suggested that they take a walk outside from prying eyes of the other freshmen.

They took to the garden where there were beautiful roses, the ones that would only be perfectly fit for a place so grandly old and magnificent such as Cross Academy. They picked a few roses for each other and the rest of their friends and for the rest of the night they sat on the bench together facing the moonlight that so brilliantly lit up the night of the ball and the light of Rima's personality that had had an influence on the roughness of his own.

--------

Shiki woke to the beauty of the morning sunrise with its blue, pink and orange tinges, however without Rima by his side. He was still lying on the bench when Kaname walked past absent-mindedly which sparked his habit of asking Kaname everything that had perturbed him in previous years that they had been acquainted with each other. "Do you know where Rima's dorm is?"

There was puzzlement in his eyes as he stared in amazement at the state of everything that was about him and he questioned quite bluntly, "late night, last night?" This angered Shiki; he was looking for Rima and was frightened that something terrible had happened to her that might exempt him from seeing her again. (But then again this is Shiki that we're talking about; he would worry about Rima even if he did not know where she was for a minute of the day.)

With a stroke of genius he had discovered her in the girls' dorm where he was bombarded with thousands of pillows and when finally he had reached her was covered in duck feathers. "Where were you?" he squeaked with immense curiosity.

"I was going to bring some breakfast for you," she replied cheekily, "you looked so cute just sleeping there so I left you there like my little hobo and anyways, I wouldn't be able to carry you all the way here."

End of the Second Chapter

_Yeah, finally finished the second chapter, sorry readers for not finishing it sooner, as you need to know that I am still in school!_

_Thanks for reading, please review, I would love to hear what you think about my second fanfiction._


	3. Crimson Rose Valentine

Chapter Three- The Crimson Rose Valentine

_Red roses, pink cheeks, shy looks and speech…_

It was nearing the end of their first week at Cross Academy and **that **holiday was fast approaching with three days left. Valentine's Day, this was rejoiced by both the Vampire and Human half of the world. Shiki was staring across from his table and over Kaname to Rima who was sitting on the other side of the room and was hoping that she would return his glances. She did however, with much more sweet subtlety and seductiveness than of what that he had done with his glances.

He was the first of which that she had such strong feelings about, even if she had only met him a few weeks ago. Her thoughts of him were full of lovely colours and flowers that completed her in the way that academics and family could not. She felt strong enough feelings that she would be able to share almost anything with him and get away with it from her parents. Although that was the main problem, where her parents would not allow her to date or marry someone that had the qualities of vampire middleclass. She felt that it was time for a revolt from her parents rules and lectures that had forced her into the same industry that her parents were into; even if she were allowed to be the model that she was that was not enough for her and Shiki was what that she had been hoping for the past few years. Rima had been hoping for someone that would intensify her thoughts, actions and feelings to the world or even would allow her to renew everything that was in her current life.

This was how Shiki felt also, hoping that Rima would somehow help him through the troubles of his life and all that was to come in the future. "Shiki, something wrong?" he had been interrupted in his thoughts of Rima… by none other than Kaname himself who had been bargaining with him to help him with his own troubles in love with Yuuki and Zero who had 'accidently' gotten together.

The reason behind 'accidentally' is that Kaname had introduced Yuuki to Zero when she was in his care, before she could comprehend what had happened before her memory loss of the terrible time when he had lost both of his parents. They had fallen for each other in the first sight of each other; however Yuuki was the first one that would speak of what they were both feeling at the time. Yuuki, though she was with Zero had a partiality to Kaname, for a reason that she could not explain with words, other than that there was something that made her feel that she should take care of his feelings also. This often disturbed Zero, he wanted to be the only one in her life.

(_Side story of Zero, Kaname and Yuuki)_

Although through all of the planning, Shiki wasn't listening, he was focusing on Rima more than more important things… the teacher that they were supposed to have for that period hadn't come today and there were no substitutes, so in situations such as these the class just sat and played around the classroom that they were supposed to be in.

There was nothing much to be done, all that Shiki had to do in assistance to Kaname was to convince Yuuki that he was giving her something on one occasion to lure her into the Night Dorm Garden. There was a hidden agenda against this though, that of which Kaname had convinced him to hide from the innocent Yuuki that had been so well brought up by the Chairman. He had been planning for a long time to tell her of the not so innocent past that they had experienced together when they were still living together. That was the occurrence that had caused her memory loss that she was currently experiencing. Although Zero had helped with some of the information (falsely), there was still something that was nudging at her that she should try to discover something more that would reveal to her the true nature of all the strange things that were happening to her at the moment.

Although at that moment Yuuki had not thought that anything out of the ordinary such as vampires and other supernatural occurrences should happen to her. All she thought was that it was natural to have some other thirst for something different and to want to walk out into the night and stay out of the sun during the day.

_(Though, this story is not about Yuuki and Kaname! So back to Shiki and Rima and their cozy little romance…)_

The bell had rung and he perceived that there was nothing else that he could be worried about now but their relationship. Rima had been avoiding him for the whole morning and had been reluctant with the glances and smiles that he had flashed her way. Not to be outdone by the morning he resolved to 'woo' Rima in such a way that she will never try to look away from him again. Although unfortunately as he was about to ask her on a proper date with him and her alone he had tripped on the loose carpet that had been intended to be fixed by the Chairman more than three months ago and fell to the ground while just about thirty students were rushing out to their next class.

Just when the humiliation had ended he got up from the ground and recollected himself in a manner that had frightened him when he saw Sieren standing before him, "would you like to buy a rose? I'm selling them for the Valentine's Day celebrations that are occurring in the next few days…" he thought that this would be the perfect thing that would exempt him from the misery that he had caused her on this morning when he rushed into the girl's dorms in such a hurry and comical fashion. But even though he had bought the rose for his beloved he still had to make his intentions known so that Rima would know that the rose was from him and not someone else that she might rather fancy than him.

-------------

The sky was rather a pale blue and the clouds seemed to be tinged with a pale pink which became the significant reminder of what day it was today. Girls of both of the classes woke early to the expectation of roses and chocolates that would be lying outside their doors. The boys were just still lying in bed sleeping soundly while the girls were probably rushing to their doors and attempting to bang it down.

Unexpectedly Shiki awoke to the roaring that was emanating from outside his room and from below in the night class' grounds. When he had gotten out of bed and dressed in his appropriate clothing he finally realized the importance of the day and opened the window to allow himself to see whether his most wonderfully loved love in the world was amongst the crowd; she was not. So then his next resolve was to open the door, however he should do it carefully, and the girls of the day class were ready to hound the door down if they had to wait any moment longer.

"I should not open this door but I will…" he exclaimed as the girls stepped back from the door. When he opened the door, the single, Sieren stepped forward to give the roses that had been bought to give them while the rest of the girls piled on their home made chocolates and gifts onto the already full hands of his that were carrying over two dozen roses that were meant for him. Every one of them had a message that was attached to them and he took the time to read each of them. For the manner of the love festival holiday, the Chairman suspended the classes for the day and allowed the whole school to go as they would on a normal day.

One particular rose stopped him from skimming through the rest of them… it read of a poem that he had heard before, from the mouth of Rima, although it was not in her handwriting and he could not determine who had sent it to him. Through tending to the rest of the roses and the gifts that had been bestowed on him he forgot of that rose and instead focused on getting everything that needed to be done for the rest of the day done for the day and never seen of again for the rest of the year. That included hiding from the rest of the school their secret which would be in danger of being discovered when for the whole day girls would be trying to resist the guardians and cross the line that had been made against the day and the night class.

Although he had tried to shift his focus onto other things of the day he could not help but think of the message on the crimson rose that had contrasted itself from the rest of them by the person who had sent them and added something eerie in addition to the poem… "Rima may be your one in a million for the moment but I will be your one in a million forever and you will become mine."

Shiki decided that he would request the assistance of Kaname with this particular predicament as he would be able to do big things in this type of situation. He knocked on the giant door of the dorm president until his presence was known and it was opened by the housekeeper that attended to Shiki's coat.

"Shiki, my man, what's the matter this time?" announced the booming voice of Kaname from another room.

He shyly approached him in the next room and slowly spoke, "there's someone who sent me something, that wasn't natural."

The End of the Third Chapter

_Thanks for reading, here's a hint of what might happen in the next chapter, someone might come in between the relationship of Shiki and Rima, although not in a good way_

_Keep reviewing please_


	4. Imagining something That is Invisible

Chapter Four- Taking Something that Isn't Yours

He hid behind his hair, just in case Kaname was about to hit him or something that would damage his ego. He didn't, instead he commented, "Do you have any suspicions of who it might be?"

"No, they just signed with the poem," he sighed timidly.

"Well… I don't think that there would be much to worry about though, if they want they will come forward and explain what the problem with you and Rima together would be." Shiki sighed again, he thought that Kaname would be able to do something, but he guessed not, he doesn't have telepathy! So he stepped outside into the sunlight again, but then there was none, he looked up and instead saw a spotty rainbow pattern that was shielding him from the rays.

"Thought that I would be letting you go out into the sun without any protection?" she teased, "I thought that we would be able to have a Valentine's Day lunch together!" she said, struggling to hold a gigantic picnic basket, "little help please?" he gracefully helped, carrying all the way to the night class' gardens.

She was the first one to reach into the picnic basket reaching for a punnet of strawberries and dipping them into the chocolate pudding that she had also bought. He stared at her with the same constant awe that he had given her before as she licked the chocolate timidly while still trying to balance the umbrella that was beginning to fail. She noticed that he was staring at her quite fondly and teased, "do you want some or what?!" with that thought crossing her mind she began to feed him the strawberries, laughing every time that even a little drip of the chocolate fell onto his face.

In the shadows there was someone, he noticed, but then he shook it off deciding that there was nothing wrong with the bush. "Hush, soon you will be mine," she spoke into his air as a strand of soft long blonde hair fell over her eyes.

"What's wrong with you today Melrose?" she turned around to find her best friend Seiren who had suddenly noticed her staring right at Rima and Shiki who were right in the distance; " oh, now I see what you are doing," she sighed, "you know that you are never going to get him, right? He is right into love with her and she is right into love with him. He payed for at least a dozen roses to go to her personally, almost cleared me out you know."

"I know," she sighed, pulling her long blonde hair back behind her ears, "I figure if I can spook him to being alone, then I will be able to talk to him." Nothing was wrong with Melrose though, she had beautiful blonde hair and beautiful green eyes with no tinges of pink. Melrose is barely a vampire; she had only found out that she was a vampire and her parents hadn't let her taste blood yet.

On such an auspicious occasion Rima had gotten special permission for them to go outside the school grounds for one day to have their special dinner. As night fell onto the grounds Rima had lost all inhibitions about her parents finding out about Shiki, she felt that she would be able to confess to her parents about their love for each other.

The place that they had decided to attend was a beautiful beachside restaurant that, even though was expensive had all the perks that Rima wanted for the date. Although it hadn't crossed Shiki's mind that it was a proper date and instead of talking about more romantic things he spoke of the suspicious letter that he had received in the morning. So instead of wooing Rima and making her more in love with him, instead Shiki had taken them one step back. "And so what do you think? I don't know who sent it to me; all the other things that I had gotten were signed by the girls that who sent them."

"I don't know what but I think it might be Melrose, she had been after you from the first day that we had come to Cross Academy," she sighed, this was definitely not the exciting date that she had been planning. Even though it hadn't been the date that she had wished for they still got back late to the Academy.

He was carrying her in his arms when he said, "You know, I just love the way that the moon reflects just how wonderful you are." Although she was already asleep before they had reached her room; he didn't want to leave her there on her own, all the other girls that were meant to be in the dorm were somewhere else. He stayed by her side all night and smiled, watching her sleep whispering into her ear, "I thought that this would never happen, when I would be able to sleep by your side."

The end of the Fourth Chapter

_Thanks for reading, hope that you enjoyed the story._


	5. Imagine us Together

Chapter Five- Imagine Us Together

The much enthralling desire emitting from stolen kisses forming a close relationship that cannot be imagined by anyone else other than the two lovers themselves…it presents itself in such a way as to disallow anyone else in any way to any part of the relationship.

Taken from the best perspective she could, she stopped writing and put the book aside to release herself from Shiki who had somehow fallen asleep with her in his arms. Somehow Rima and Shiki hadn't had a relationship with someone as 'intense', if you can describe it that way ;). She got up just in time for him to say, "Where are you going?"

She had to think of a quick answer, "to get you more breakfast?"

"I already had breakfast? Already?" uh oh, she had just sparked one of their long irritating conversations.

----

Meanwhile, behind the incredibly cute premise of this story there must be an antagonist to their wonderful relationship. Melrose lay in her soft cushioned bed, unable to catch even a wink of sleep, plotting her next move to capture that attention of Shiki from behind the invisible curtains that had been placed in front of her.

She hadn't taken the advice of her best friend, Seiren and instead vowed to take his attention from the much deserving Rima. It was the day after Valentines' Day and much of the chocolates and flowers that had been sent by admirers during the previous day much remained. And there were also many broken hearts that remained behind, along with all the un-replied cards. Taking the day quite seriously was Melrose who had sent more than a dozen boxes of chocolates to Shiki.

There was not much to be taken into account with the day with Shiki. All that he needed to think about was his wonderful Rima; although he wondered how she felt about their day yesterday. They were still having the long conversation that had now turned to one about what they were talking about in the first place, "aargh, let's just get something to eat anyway."

They sat till noon under the yellow umbrella having another quaint little picnic that Rima insisted that they have in replacement for the failure date. Painstakingly Melrose had taken the time to make little charms that would entice Shiki to her. She had the thought of leaving them under his door but decided against it. Instead, she chose to give them to Rima first in disguise as another gift that she may give to him.

Again Melrose had taken the time to go to Shiki directly. She knocked on the door just enough so that he would be able to hear. "Who is it?"

She put on the cutest voice that she could afford, "it's Melrose…" it seemed a bit awkward for someone that he had not even met and had not even spoken to be before to be let into his room, but other than that he was kind enough to let her into his room.

Unknown to Shiki, this was part of her plan. She looked around while she sat waiting for something to drink and noticed something a little strange, there were much more clothing than was necessary and the clothing that she saw was sort of not his style of clothing either. "You don't live alone?" she had expected that he would since he's Shiki.

"No, umm, I think that all the other really; really happy clothing and stuff are Ichijou's." Ahh, Ichijou was Melrose's other and less thought about crush of the moment. Even though he was another crush of hers, she only wanted to make a relationship with the other of the two, which was more handsome and kind. Ichijou wasn't really her type either; her type was more of a dark invisible guy type.

Nightfall was coming, and Rima was also coming to Shiki's dorm, so she had to do this quickly. She needed to redirect his feelings towards her. The charms that she had made did not matter right now and they had been thrown into the trash. Rima was coming up the stairs quickly and she could hear the footsteps so she took his soft hands in hers and moved closer to him. She had prepared herself. The doorknob slowly moved in a circular motion. The instant that the door opened she grabbed him in her arms and kissed him passionately on the lips.

"What are you doing?" he questioned her as he forcefully pulled away from her and sided to Rima.

"More like, what were you doing? Letting **this** person into your private quarters when you know that she's the person who sent you that curious poem!" she burst into tears and ran down the stairs looking for a private area while he still chased behind.

Melrose was still at the room smiling at what she had just done; she had broken up one of the most promisingly cute couples of their year. Although she was saddened by the fact that he did not answer what she had whispered into his ear previous to Rima disturbing them, "imagine us together… Rima doesn't deserve you, you don't belong with her…" the charm that she had attempted to put on him hadn't worked. She knew this because he had unfortunately attempted to run after Rima. She had to try again tomorrow.

The end of the Fifth Chapter

_Thank you for reading_


	6. LOVESTRUCK FOOLS SHOULD BE PULLED APART

Chapter Six- Love struck Fools Together

Day had gone and nightfall was coming, and along with that the beautiful creatures with dark and eerie atmospheres and dark intense eyes emerged. Although, they, at Cross Academy, were eager to fulfill their desire of blood, however they could not. Instead it was blood tablets that they would be provided with and instead of going to their own school; they would attend one with humans.

Melrose was especially happy because today all of her classes were with Shiki so she especially tended to her hair to try to make it similar to Rima's. Two ponytails was sort of a joke to her though, they made her feel like an inferior little child.

She took a deep breath and steeped into the class, hoping that he would be in the same way with her as she had been with him. He wasn't there! Trying to act natural she took her usual seat next to Seiren, "what happened to Shiki?" she questioned filled with much anxiety.

When Seiren answered she felt much more complexity had been put into her plan, "I think that Shiki transferred to 'Inecto Lock High School' on the Far East side of Italy. At least that's what I heard from Kaname and the others. Apparently his mother had heard of Rima and his relationship and his mother didn't like it one bit. I think that his mother chose to go to Italy because that's where his family's actually from. At least that's what I hear." It was a little annoying that she had the habit of giving more information than was necessary.

"How do you think Rima's taken the news!?" she had accidentally replied with a curiously happy tone.

"You still have feelings for Shiki don't you?"

She had to admit, Seiren was really like a psychic, "yes." Unfortunately this was often that she felt like this for a guy; last time it was Kaname, although that never came to be because of his already tangled love mess with Ruka and Yuuki.

Rima was agitated in her class knowing that Shiki would no longer be attending Cross Academy. And already, not even a day had passed when guys were already lining up to ask her out. She had refused them all as she sat in class alone, quiet and agitated. She had to somehow bring him back to Japan, he didn't like Italy, and he never liked Italy.

Shiki, he was halfway to Italy and he was looking out the window of the private jet discontented by the entire of the blue ocean that would be separating himself and Rima. However Rima wasn't the reason that he had to leave. Instead it was because he had won a scholarship that had to have him placed in Italy even before the first term had ended. Rima had already known about the transfer the previous day as he had told her.

His mother was sleeping on the middle aisle, even though it was night. He could not rest, knowing that, for a year he would not be able to see his Rima. There was still a long way before they would reach Italy, so he had plenty of time to think about the current situation that he was already in. Although through all of the missing of Rima he realized that she had given him a private address that he would be able to send letters to her, as well as to the Academy, (of course). He began on the first:

_Dear Rima,_

_The first letter is always the hardest so I am making this one the most painfully shortest. I love you, even though there are miles of Blue Ocean that are separating us, I will not let that affect the relationship. I love you, NEVER FORGET._

_I am writing while on the plane to Italy, it will pain you to know that I will have to stay in Italy for the whole of this year. I'm sorry that I had to have gotten that scholarship, but my mother had insisted that I at least try._

_Shiki_

He had finished the letter but he would not be able to send the letter until they had reached Italy, as much more it saddened him.

----

Again the day was coming and again class ended for the night class. Rima was still agitated and thinking about Shiki and how he would be in Italy. She did not like the prospect of him being in such a romantic city that is notorious for beautiful women. She took to her room, looking forward to having a long rest.

The end of the Sixth Chapter

_Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think_

_Yep, that means review! Good or bad, let me know!_


	7. Standing Up to the Status Quo

Chapter Seven- Standing up to the Status Quo

He looked out onto the window of the plane, wondering what Rima would be doing right this moment, he often did that during the spare time that he had; being trapped in that scholarship school prison in Italy. He didn't think that Italy was beautiful at all, which was much contrary to what his mother repeatedly said to him, about how he would find this place just like the home that he never had and they might just find his wife here. He didn't think so and he didn't want to think so either. Throughout the past year he had been trying to figure out some way that he would be able to make the thing with Rima work as best as he could, he couldn't think of anything. After all the work that he put into trying to make it work he put his hard work into writing songs for her instead, he thought that would be his gift for her when he came back.

She looked at her watch that illuminated in the dark, 10:00pm, he was late. Rima was standing outside the airport doors just willing to herself that he would come back home to her safely; her mind was split between whether he would have changed in the short time between himself and herself and whether he would even remember that she was his for life.

Their love was **meant** to be eternal but she wasn't exactly sure whether he felt this way as well as she did, or even as intensely as a connection that she felt whenever they were together and the intense loneliness that they felt when they were apart. She loved him even though they had been torn apart and through the fact also that her parents didn't allow for someone like Shiki to be dating Rima. Rima and Shiki were the perfect couple; _for the moment_… she thought but she wasn't sure whether this would be lasting forever as she would have hoped. She wasn't sure, also whether she would be able to reveal to her parents that they had been together for over a year (long- distance). "Hmm," she thought, "only time will tell…whether mum and dad will like him."

Rima was sort of a hybrid vampire, not quite pureblood though, she was a daughter of a nobleman who had come from a long line of nobles all the way from the 17th century vampires when their line had begun to be recorded. Rima's family was half pureblood though and with that half was the primary reason that her family rather prided themselves on nothing that was of much worth anyways to them… There was often no respect that was offered to them, rather than the few that were truly content with the treatment that they received from the Tyouyas'- which were their servants. Rima although she was part of this overpriced family, thought that there was not that much importance to her name and chose rather to look upon the name as something that happened through chance.

The supposed (rumoured) story of how her family became vampires was because the first recorded ancestor was a servant to one of the first pureblood vampires that existed on the Earth. Also, apparently that pureblood vampire fell in love with the first ancestor and accidentally, succumbing to all his desires and savagely bit her neck. That bite on the neck of the first ancestor from a young pureblood vampire is apparently the source of all the pride that her mother, father and older brother exhibit towards all the other vampire families. Rima also hadn't thought anything of who she might have to marry in order to retain that pride, maybe someone from a far extending family from the other side of Japan where the idiots have so far been grown for her benefit.

---------

The plane landed with a giant thud on the ground and he looked out the window to see if anything interesting would catch his eye; any changes to the scenery of the landscape that he was used to. Nothing had changed but then there was something else that was in the corner of eye… he squinted to see who or what it was but nothing was visible in the pouring rain that came from the winter season. Grabbing his and his mother's hand luggage they stepped out from the plane and briskly walked towards the wide airport doors.

Oblivious to Rima who was standing right beside the doors he walked past her and straight to the baggage claim. She looked up shifting the few strands of hair that had fallen on her pale face; she noticed Shiki not noticing her and ran after him. He walked faster. She walked faster. He stopped. She stopped. Oops, too late; she fell on top of his back and knocked him to the ground.

"Hey! What's your problem?!" He began yelling without even a glance at the person to whom he was yelling at and began to walk again.

"Oops, hey…I'm sorry for that, k's?" she rushed after him again. He stopped suddenly…again. She knocked him on the floor…again. This time when she helped him up he recognised the face.

"Rima? Is that you?" He asked rhetorically, smiling with a fantastic grin of glee spreading across his face.

"Yes…"she replied shyly, pushing her hair back behind her ear. He helped her with the other.

"You look fantastic! You changed your hair- you got a haircut? And dyed it blonde brown? It looks fantastic!" (_Don't worry, he's not crazy…this is how he always acts around Rima…very delirious)_

"I thought that I would be able to surprise you, coming to the airport to—"she was cut off by what she saw behind him… his mother. She pointed slowly to behind him.

"What is it? Is there something wrong with my hair? My teeth? Tell me!"

"It's your mother… I think…" she had suddenly become very nervous about what was about to happen.

"Huh?"He seemed clueless, as always so she turned his head to face his mother who had a dull smile on her face.

"And who's this?" she questioned with an intimidating tone.

"This is Rima, mother." Shiki took the honours of introducing her.

"Aren't you one of **those **Tyouya's?" she questioned, accusingly. Shiki's mother had a way with words, very definitely, according to Shiki, that is. His mother hard a very hard head on her that was hard to impress, she began to eye Rima suspiciously as though she had a wire on her and were a spy for her family. However, this was non-sensible to Rima, she had nothing to hide and there would be no reason that her family would want to spy on another family.

"That's not what I wanted to come across as, though; yes I am one of **those** Tyouya's. The chairman from Cross Academy instructed that I take him back to the dorms there immediately to discuss very private business; **alone**."

"Very well…go along Shiki….with this…Tyouya…I'll see you next time when the holidays return." He kissed his mother goodbye and grabbed his suitcases, grateful of what Rima had done for him, rescuing him from his dangerous mother who had imprisoned him for the year in Italy at the so called Inecto Lock High School. There was nothing special about that place anyways; he only learnt a few extra charms that he might be able to use in the future for protection of himself and his loved ones, including Rima.

--------

Tick, tick, tick; Rima's watch announced as it broke the silence every so often, they had not spoken a word since they left the airport. It wasn't because they hadn't anything to say, it was rather that they had too much to say and at the moment were trying to comprehend all that they were currently feeling for each other and had felt about each other during the past year into a few tiny sentences full of incomparable words that struck in their minds as being mediocre in descriptions. In her hand she held very tightly a rose that she had been given to her by Shiki very privately before their parting a year ago, she had put it in resin to forever preserve the entity that reminded her that he was the only one in her life that had felt so strongly for her. Shiki, on the other hand held tightly to a thought that reoccurred in his mind about when they had parted each other; maybe he would be able to kiss her now… Previously he hadn't enough courage to kiss her. To Shiki, Rima was like a beautiful and fragile blooming flower that would not be able to be disturbed; he thought frequently about a first kiss with her, making her his absolute first kiss but he didn't know how to kiss someone. Instructions from Kaname had been pointless, as all that they led to were savage bite marks on the necks of the beautiful women that he used to demonstrate.

They were approaching the gates of Cross Academy and were greeted with happy smiles from the entire of the student body as the party banner was held, 'Welcome back Shiki!' they shouted as he got out of the car. The Chairman came out from the crowd and personally shook his hand as though Shiki had done something great for the entire campus. Shiki did not know how to react, he had never had a crowd this big to welcome him back to anywhere, all there ever was, was his mother. He fled with Rima back to his dorm where Kaname and Ichijou seemed to be very animated while reading to a group of adoring female fan groups.

"Oh, hello Shiki, welcome back. You too, Rima. You know Shiki, Rima had dyed her hair only a few days ago; I think she said something about wanting to give you a fantastic surprise. You don't have to hide behind him, Rima, you can come out I don't bite; there is only one that I would love to bite though…" Kaname whispered hastily as he was being pulled back into the crowd.

"How can you do this?!" Shiki yelled as he realized that allowing a bunch of day students into the night students' campus was illegal. Promptly, he shoved the girls out of the hallway and told them to go back to where they were before this happened.

"Why did you do that? You're such a kill joy, Shiki…"

"I thought that we would be better organized without the girls distracting us so much in our studies. You know that the assessments are only a week away for you guys… although I am exempted from these because I was absent for so long… and well, I had already completed some assessments at Inecto Lock in Italy!" He grinned as he set his friends to work while he led Rima into his study to explain various things that he had been thinking about while he was away. He had indeed thought of many things while he was away- like how lucky he was to have Rima, but how it would be difficult for them since she originated from a wealthy family. They would soon be forced apart by their parents who would find out sooner or later what they were up to.

He held out a seat for her while he perched precariously on the corner of the pine desk, "I think that we need to talk, seriously for a moment." Rima was confused by this; she had thought that he was happy that they were still together… although there had been some difficulties with Melrose and him going to Italy. She thought that that would not affect anything though.

"What do we need to talk about?" she questioned, clearly puzzled by the situation.

"I think that it would be good if we break for a while."

_End of Chapter Seven!!! Thank you for reading and for being patient with me, I know that I haven't been getting out my stories as quick as usual and I am sorry…_

_Hope you enjoyed this tumultuous chapter—let me know what you think (review please)!_

_Thank you [=^^=]_


	8. Thinking about You Differently

_Chapter Eight- Thinking about You differently_

The sun burnt into his eyes as the curtains were drawn by his various maids that were owned by Kaname, he guessed that Kaname had thought that he needed a prettier wakeup call as the girls dawned on him, applying to his every whim. He had had a terrible sleep after all that happened last night; he didn't want to dump Rima but he had to; what if her parents found out that they were dating? He pulled the sheets off and walked towards the windows, unafraid of the sunlight and looked into the girls' dorms; Rima was doing the same thing. He tried to hide himself behind the curtains that had been drawn, but it was too late; she had seen him and given him a sweet but awkward smile.

He decided to say hello to her in person and was halfway to her dorm when he was stopped by Melrose who was walking briskly towards him and had pulled him into a corner of the garden, "I heard that you and Rima broke up…"she asserted.

"That's not exactly true," he retorted, "it's only a break from the hardship that the relationship puts onto Rima and her relationship with her family."

"So…her family doesn't like you? Well… I think that my family would like you much better!" she squealed as she edged closer to him, hinting for a peck on the cheek.

"Uh, uh, I'm not that kind of person you know. I don't break up with someone and then five minutes later ask someone out!" he shouted as he pushed her from him and sprinted away to Rima.

He knocked on her door, wondering whether she would answer him. The doorknob slowly turned and sparked his hopes up, but it wasn't her, instead it was Seiren, "I don't think that Rima wants to see you now. I think that she's crying a little bit."

"Then let me see her! Maybe I will be able to cheer her up!" she blocked the door, stopping Shiki from entering.

"It's no use, she hates you, and she doesn't want to see you, since you broke her heart and everything!" she slammed the door in his face while he still was pleading with her to see Rima. He walked off; thinking to him again whether breaking up with her was the right thing to do.

He kicked a stone in front of him, forgetting that it was still daylight and felt a sudden burning sensation on the back of his neck; rushing back into his dorm. To his surprise Kaname was already up, devising another plan to get rid of Zero and have Yuki all to himself. Shiki walked slowly towards him and slammed into his shoulders; frightening him. "DON'T EVER DO THAT!" Kaname yelled as he recovered quickly from the fright.

"What are you doing up so early anyways?" he questioned Shiki, bewildered.

"Uh, uh…" he knew that he had to lie to Kaname, otherwise he would warn him about getting back with Rima. "I was getting cosy with Yuki for you. I figure that if she knows me better, I can give you two some alone time."

Kaname smiled, "I knew that it was a good investment to be friends with you," he clamoured as he put his arm around Shiki in a friendly fashion. He looked into the distance of the window, "ah, I keep thinking about her, I don't know why, but I can't stop thinking about her either. What do you think, should I ask her to come to the garden with me for some alone time; even though she's attached to Zero?"

"I don't think that's a good idea…" Shiki said in a quietened voice; Kaname didn't like to be contradicted by people.

"Alright, I should go and ask her right now," he said as he strutted out of the room, very joyous.

Shiki got back to thinking, about Rima; it was hard breaking up with the cutest girl on campus. He heard a knock on the door and expected it to be Rima, coming to reconcile (even though he was the one to break up with her). However, when he got to the door, it wasn't who he expected, it was Melrose and she was pleading him to be her boyfriend. As usual he refused and told her that if she didn't get out of the sun she might be burnt to dust and shut the door once more to her.

-------------

Melrose thought to herself as she got the door shut in her face once more by Shiki, 'I don't think that I should try and get with Shiki anymore…but…he broke up with Rima, which makes it okay, right?' She took the thought with her as she went back to the girls' dorms. On entrance she was approached by Seiren, one of her best friends; but also one of Rima's best friends.

"Why do you think that you can hit on Shiki when they haven't even broken up with each other for 24 hours?!" she scolded as she went to comfort Rima some more.

"Hey, it's not my fault that Rima wasn't all that he thought her to be!" she rebutted as she trudged from the scene.

------------

"You didn't need to do that for me, you know, I can take care of myself and take care of whoever is hitting on Shiki." Rima exclaimed as Seiren sat back down on the bed.

"I know, but then I thought, why not help Rima out a bit?" she smiled.

------------

The dark of the night and the brightness of the moon were approaching but Shiki was still at the window staring into the distance of the night class' garden. Class was about to begin for the night class and the students stood outside the classrooms, awaiting instruction from their teachers. Neither Rima nor Shiki was to be seen anywhere and people began to wonder where both of them were (_okay, mainly Melrose)_.

Shiki was still in his room, wondering whether Rima would mind if he visited her again; Rima on the other hand was asleep and Seiren had covered for her saying that she was sick.

He stood at the window, thinking and not having moved an inch since he came back from the attempted visit to Rima. He noticed that the lights in her dorm were on and realized that she mustn't have gone to class either; maybe she was really upset about the breakup. He thought of going to visit her, but then thought also that she might not let him inside to talk. Then he thought even more, going over the situation over and over inside his mind. (_He does a lot of thinking.) _He decided that he would visit her and stepped outside, but stopped. Something in his heart told him that she would not want to see him right about now; but with a half- heart thought he stepped onto the shelter in front to the door to her dorm.

He knocked subtly on the door. Noticing that the door was open, he stepped inside and ran to Rima's dorm, "can I come in?"

"Who are you first?" she questioned, giggling hysterically.

"I am Shiki," he said proudly.

"Okay, you can come in." she gave in, unlocking the door.

On opening the door she accidentally gave him a kiss on the cheek, forgetting that they had broken up, "I'm sorry…it's just that I haven't gotten used to it."

"You mean… the breakup? I'm sorry about that. I just thought that if your parents learn about us, they might not want you to be dating me."

"Oh, is that the reason…" she whispered, drifting back into her mind, "why didn't you tell me then? We could have worked it out; my parents are actually very understanding." He seemed bewildered by what she had just said.

"I thought you said that your parents were rich and wanted the same for you."

"That's not what I said," she teased, "I said that my parents were rich, they wanted me to study hard to become like them; **not to someone like them**."

He smiled and returned a kiss on the cheek, "So that means that we can still be together?"

"Yeah, but I think we should do it right this time. You should meet my parents first, and I can meet you mother and allow her to judge me."

"But first I think that we need to prove to our parents that we can be as responsible for ourselves as our parents expect us to be," he said as he took her hand and led her to their next class; (_they're already in their uniform.)_

"I think that we'll be fine." Rima confessed as she skipped hand in hand with Shiki to their next class.

_End of chapter eight._

_Thank you for reading, hope that you enjoyed the chapter._

_Please review _


	9. Don't Regret Your Decision

**CHAPTER NINE- DON'T REGRET YOUR DECISION**

There was something in the air that made everyone act differently for the rest of the day. Rima stared into Shiki's eyes for the whole incomplete lesson while everyone else sat around doing nothing.

For some reason the teacher had disappeared during the last semester. Chairman Cross had decided that there would be no more teachers for the Night Class in case that the disappearance of the previous teacher was caused by a Night Student. That way Chairman Cross would be able to protect the Day Students from the most unimaginable danger in the world. It had been decided that the only sufficient person to look over the Night Class would be Kaname.

The bell rang to signal the end of the class. Rima and Shiki walked hand in hand out of class; although there were people who still didn't suspect of their relationship. Everyone else's relationship that was in the Night Class was suspected of being purely neutral and nothing more. It was puzzling to Rima and Shiki how Kaname wouldn't make a proper move to Yuuki and how Akatsuki wouldn't confess to Ruka how much he really wanted to protect her.

They returned to Shiki's dorm together to get ready for their date. Rima didn't know it but he had planned time alone with Rima on a midnight picnic. He had already set up a blanket and a basket filled with food in the middle of the Night Class' courtyard. They would be able to sit together and be able to stare at the stars while they ate.

He put on a blue dress shirt while admiring Rima's shimmering intense blue eyes. She had noticed that he had been willing for him to look at him with her eyes and buttoned up the rest of the shirt for him. "I know that you couldn't resist looking at my eyes," she smiled cheekily, "Ha, I don't think that you knew that it was our first month's anniversary though. Happy anniversary." She commented as she gave him a rose set in resin as well as a handmade card.

He set the card on a bedside table and stroked her cheek, "I didn't forget our anniversary, here you go." He commented handing her a favourite book of his, "I thought that I should give you something personal so that you'll remember me always."

She thanked him taking the book up to her face, "I will never ever forget you," she said taking his hand in hers. "So, where are we going for our month anniversary date?"

"It's a surprise! Take my hand and believe me that you'll like it." She slipped her arm into his and held tightly onto his hand. They finished dressing and leapt outside the open window to the ground below. He kissed her hand as if to heal any wounds that she might have incurred leaping down from the window.

There in the centre of the courtyard were two identical cushions set together with a satin covered basket set in front of them. "Shall we?" He questioned as he helped Rima up from the ground.

She smiled comforting Shiki's worries, "sure." There had been worries that they had been fighting against but for a moment there was nothing to be concerned about.

She took out a small container that was filled with ice cream and a spoon, "start with dessert?" She commented as she took a spoonful to Shiki's mouth. He was appreciative of their relationship too; it had been the only thing that made him happy in the past years that he had been on Earth. Working as a model was no comfort unless you had someone to share the comfort with. He was happy that the person that he was sharing the happiness and comfort with was Rima.

He lowered his eyes, thinking of something more intense than ice-cream. "I'm worried Rima. The other day I smelt blood that was spilt on the campus; I'm not sure whether it's Yuuki's or Kaname's, I cannot distinguish between them. I am hoping that nothing serious had happened."

She hugged him with big arms, "There is nothing that you need to worry about. Don't worry Shiki, if Kaname doesn't tell us details about blood being spilt there is a proper reason that he doesn't tell us." Clearly to her heart she was still worried about Shiki breaking her heart in order to satisfy that of Melrose's. There were many things that she needed to worry about but none was as important as that of protecting Shiki's heart. She wanted to protect him even if he didn't need protecting.

He touched her hand gently to comfort her, "there should be nothing for you to worry about either Rima. I will not ever break your heart Rima, I love you too much to do that." She shed a tear hugging him tighter.

"I know that there is nothing to worry about but still..." she felt her heart pang, "I want to know for sure the trueness of your feelings for me. I do love you too." She commented shoving another spoonful of ice-cream into his face. She gave him another smile, "you know that I love you and there are pangs in my heart also."

"I know. I will do anything to help you to be rid of them."

"Yes...but there are too many that you don't know about. It's just all too much." She buried her head in her hands and wept. Shiki took her hands and stared directly into her eyes.

"I love you, Touya Rima. That means that I will not ever betray you."

Out into the shadows of the trees there was a pair of glowing red eyes and protruding fangs emerging. Blonde hair had grown thin and her mind was filled with nothing but the sweet scent of Shiki's blood. Melrose had been thirsting for his blood for too long and her parents' knew that even though she was a pureblood there was someone more that she wished for.

Rima gave him a half-hearted smile, "I know that you love me but I also know that Melrose will try to do something to break us apart again."

Shiki stroked her face and kissed her on the cheek, "you know that if that happens I will never fall for whatever charms that she attempts to put on me." He took out her hair ties and shoved them into his pocket, "I like your hair much better like this."

He was about to stroke her long blonde strands lovingly when out of nowhere Melrose lurched at Rima knocking her to the ground. "You will never get him to be truly yours." She began to feast on Rima's blood as Rima lay limp on the ground and faced Shiki to try and scare him into being with her. "She doesn't deserve you!" She yelled as she walked away leaving Rima to bleed to death.

She wanted to hurt Shiki and she had definitely done that he thought. He had thought that he had made it quite clear that he didn't like Melrose; but he might have thought wrong. Shiki had been the short time and most obsessive crush of Melrose. It had damaged her reputation between her parents and the rest of the vampire society as a pureblood.

Shiki cradled Rima in his arms and picked her up to take her to the infirmary. The nurse was shocked, "What happened?!" It was unusual for animals to be on campus but the nurse knew what happened. "She had been attacked by one of the other Night Students, right?" Shiki nodded, "The thing that you have to do is give your blood to her so that she'll regenerate the wound quicker and heal faster. Tell me what happened." He bit himself letting a small wound drip into Rima's mouth.

Her neck healed quickly and Rima awoke surprising herself with the situation that she had just got herself into. "What happened? I don't remember anything before we went to our picnic..." she fainted again.

Shiki attempted to resuscitate her to a normal state, "don't Shiki." She held his hand to stop him from hurting her more than she had been hurt already. "There is nothing that you need to worry about Shiki, Rima's fine- she's just resting through the ordeal that she had just been through. Can you tell me please what happened?"

"I'm afraid that it will incriminate someone that doesn't need to be incriminated right now, "the nurse assured him that it would be for the best. "Okay," he admitted, "I'll tell you what happened. Rima and I were on a midnight picnic to signify our first month anniversary. Out of nowhere Melrose lurched onto Rima and started to feast on her blood. Then she left her limp probably hoping that it would hurt me severely. Argh, it's a personal issue with Melrose that I have got; I don't know how to handle it though."

The nurse shook her head, "The night class and their personal issues. I have had enough with Kaname and his lust for that Yuuki girl in the Day Class."

He stepped out of the infirmary to contemplate what he would do next to try to protect Rima. There was the option of destroying Melrose; however that was the biggest taboo that he could commit. What else could he do though? If he didn't make a move to protect Rima then she could be lost forever; there was no other option.

He let himself into the Night Class Dorms and into Melrose's room where she was staring outside the window. She was unaware of what was going to happen. Shiki closed the door and wrapped his arms around Melrose; he knew that she wouldn't be able to fight against him- she wasn't a full vampire. He took hold of her throat and shoved his arm into her chest, pulling her heart out and quashing it.

Her famous last words would be, "you haven't heard the last of me." With those famous last words she fell to the ground and her body fell into a mere pile of ashes. He had done it; there would be nothing else that would provoke Rima to be frightened.

He went back to the infirmary to confirm that Rima was okay and to stay by her side for the rest of the night and day. When he returned he found her bed empty, "where'd Rima go?"

"She went back to the Night Class Dorms; after the blood that you had given her she healed right up."

He strolled happily back to the Night Class Dorms and into Rima's room where she was sitting on the bed waiting for him. "You're alright!" She commented happily, "when I came to I didn't know where you had gone so I came back to my dorm and you weren't here either."

It was like a sad love story; Rima and Shiki's romance. He had once thought that there was nothing that was going to tear them apart but then he knew that he was wrong. There was something in the world that he knew that would break them apart for good. If that were to happen he would do whatever he could to keep that from breaking them apart.

He grabbed her hand, "I have done something that will ensure that we are safe; I have done something that I know the vampire society might hate me for. I have killed Melrose." She was frantic; Melrose was a pureblood vampire and she knew that it was taboo to kill a pureblood vampire.

"What if the Hunter's Association finds out? Or worse? What if the Senior Council finds out that you killed a pureblood vampire? They'll kill you to make amends for the death of a pureblood vampire."

"Don't worry Rima; I know that Kaname won't ever let that happen. He's on our side and will help us because we have been so loyal to him."

"Don't count on it though; even though Kaname is tough and fair mixed together he's more tough than fair. Be careful Shiki; there's nothing that the Hunter's Association would like more than to find out how there is chaos in the vampire society."

He wasn't worried about what the Hunter's Association or the Senior Council would do if they found out that he had killed Melrose. She deserved to be killed for misuse of her power to try and break a couple that belonged together apart. He and Rima did belong together he believed; there would be no one that would break them apart.

He hugged Rima tight and reassured her that everything would be alright, "Don't regret your decision to do this Shiki. There's no going back when you have killed someone of the vampire society; when you have killed someone from such a prestigious pureblood family."

**END OF CHAPTER NINE- THANK YOU FOR READING. HOPE THAT YOU ENJOYED IT AND PLEASE REVIEW.**


	10. The Unlikeliest of Combinations

**CHAPTER TEN- THE UNLIKELIEST OF COMBINATIONS ARE OFTEN THE BEST**

Rima took his arm in hers as they walked through the Night Class courtyard. It was autumn and she thought that it would be the perfect time for walks that were filled with the exchange of loving words between lovers. Humans had said that spring was the perfect time for an exchange between lovers but she thought that it was wrong and autumn was more suitable; in Japan at least.

He knew that there was something else that Rima desired other than to take walks with him through the falling cherry blossoms. Rima desired some sign of commitment; until she was shown that sign there would be uncertainty in her heart. There would be uncertainty in the relationship.

He took her arm out of the chain and sat her in the shade of a nearby tree. "What's wrong Shiki? I thought that you liked taking walks with me in the cherry blossom orchard."

"I do," he admitted," I know that there is something else that you would like to know though. I know that you think that I am not committed to you because of what happened concerning Melrose and all that; but it's not like that Rima." He took her hand and gave her a look that signalled an oxymoron that was about to leave his mind, "I think that we need to talk."

It had struck her; what Shiki wanted to talk about. Even though he had proved that he was committed to her by killing Melrose so that she wouldn't be able to hurt them anymore. She ran from the scene; not willing her ears to here anymore of the terrible news. The hint in his voice had subliminally told her that their break up was imminent. She ran and hid in an empty classroom and shed tears that would never been seen by anyone. She buried her head in her arms thinking to herself; why? Why; why had Shiki decided to break up when their relationship had been doing so well?

Meanwhile Shiki was trying to find Rima after she had ran from the picnic; he was hoping that she wasn't in any danger as Kuran Rido was still loose. There was no trace of him anywhere and it was dangerous to be alone anywhere on the campus.

He ran from room to room, opening each of the doors; shocking whoever was inside. Finally he had found her; one of the oldest rooms... she was cradling an umbrella that he had given her. He stroked her hair, "that wasn't what I meant when I said that I wanted to talk to you; Rima. It was because I was trying to tell you that I wanted to meet your parents and I wanted to introduce you to my mother."

She wiped tears away from her face, laughing to herself, "of course...how stupid of me; to think that you wanted to break up with me when you wanted to show me how committed you are to me."

"Come on Rima. I think that it's time for us to go to class." He took her hand and led her outside the room so that they would be able to get their books.

When they stepped out of the gate together she barely noticed the day students that were gawking at Shiki; she only noticed how wonderful he was to her. He stopped a moment and turned to talk to her, "so, Rima...when do you want to meet my mother?"

"Anytime's fine for me; just as long as you're not planning something using ulterior motives for something else."

"How about tomorrow; I'll get special permission from Kaname and Chairman Cross to go out of the campus during daylight hours. You're fine with going out during daylight hours, right; as long as you have that umbrella?" He joked, pointing to the yellow umbrella.

"Yep."She smiled cheerfully as she locked her arm into his again, "I think that we're late for class, Shiki."

"I think you're right. Let's go before Kaname scolds us." The both of them ran to catch up to the others that were well ahead of them.

Daybreak was imminent and soon the vampires would go back into hibernation; as too much exposure to the sunlight was dangerous for them. The Night Class of Cross Academy had long returned back to their dorms; as a precaution the Day Students were confined to their dorms during the Night Class.

Rima and Shiki had walked back to their dorms arm in arm again. There was no reaction from the rest of the Night Class but they suspected that the Night Class couldn't be bothered warning them about each other. He held her directly above him by the waist showing her how much that he loved her and hoped that she would love him.

'This man had no idea how much that I love him,' she thought to herself, 'neither does he have any idea how much it would mean to this woman how significant their relationship is to her.' She didn't notice that she was saying everything that she was thinking out loud. Rima shielded her mouth in embarrassment at what she had just said.

"Don't worry Rima," Shiki smiled, "there's absolutely no reason for you to hide anything from me; you can tell me how much you love me and want us to be together." She got off of him, embarrassed at his reaction.

"There's nothing to fret about," he reassured her, "I think that you should get ready. I have a surprise for you Rima. I'll be waiting at the front gates for you." He left the door open for her, disregarding the fact that he was giving the least amount of privacy for him. _Shame...==''; that was a big mistake by Shiki..._

Unaware that he had left the door open; Aidou strolled by and noticed that the door was open. He silently stepped inside the room causing Shiki to believe that he was Rima. "Rima; have you already finished dressing?"

Aidou put on a super fake high voice pretending to be Rima, "yes, darling! I've finished dressing for our time together!" Shiki turned around expecting the person to be Rima; but to his surprise it was Aidou. He tackled him to the ground; infuriated.

"How dare you pretend to be Rima?" A manic laughter was emanating from the door and the both of them turned to see who it was. Rima; she was laughing at how much Shiki was into protecting her from her biggest 'foe'. "Rima...I'm sorry that you had to see this; but he was pretending to be you."

She giggled, "I don't mind Shiki, really." Aidou looked back and forth between the two of them, wondering what was really going on behind the back of the Night Class.

"You two are together then? Girlfriend and boyfriend?" Shiki and Rima nodded in unison, "why'd you hide it from the rest of us?"

"Because we thought that it would be too much to handle at the moment; since Kuran Rido is still loose."

"Okay then," Aidou shook it off, "fine then. Do what you want and I hope that you two will be very happy." He stepped outside of the door and closed it behind him, "remember Shiki to close the door properly next time."

Shiki turned back to Rima and took her in his arms and together they leapt outside of the open window. Together they escaped the boring day when the Day Students would be having their class. "Are you sure that you are ready to meet my mother Rima? She's quite a harsh woman." She nodded her head as she landed on the ground below.

They weren't worried about being seen by the Day Students since they were in their classrooms. They wouldn't be spied by any of them. They leapt once more into the air; dissipating into grains of sand. They appeared on the other side of Japan where Shiki's mother was living.

Shiki's home was like a temple that was connected to a peaceful botanic garden, perhaps it was a temple once. But now; where the simple screen door once was it was replaced by a heavily locked metal door. He looked at her to see her reaction to the front garden to his house. "It's quite beautiful Shiki," she admitted, "maybe even more beautiful than you. Except for that metal door; that is." She pointed out the front door to a severely disappointed Shiki. He had been hoping to impress her with his magnificent house that he had helped his mother purchase.

"Rima," he commented; narrowing his eyes, "there are some people who like some security in their life." She laughed the manic laugh that he hated again.

"There's nothing to worry about Shiki; don't give me such a severe look! It ruins your perfect face." She giggled as she stroked his face, embarrassing him. They stepped inside the house after Shiki had finally unlocked the final lock.

His mother was already waiting for the both of them inside, "I didn't expect you to bring home such a beautiful woman, Shiki... welcome home my son."

"Yes...she is quite beautiful isn't she? I think that she really deserves the title that the magazines have given her of a rising star. She works as a model, just like me; mother." His mother stood up from the chair and walked towards Rima and gave her a hug.

"Thank you for making my son so happy, Touya Rima. I hope that you two will be very happy together." She admitted, pouring another cup of tea for herself. "Do you want to go and have a look at the back garden? It's really quite fascinating; the Koi have gathered there so happily. They're just so beautiful." Her mother led Rima in closer to have a look and gave her food so that she would be able to feed them.

Meanwhile; while Rima was feeding the Koi his mother led him into the house to talk about Rima. "She's quite a nice girl Shiki. I know that you make good decisions in your life and she is one of the best decisions that you have made."

He nodded his head and smiled, "yes, isn't she? I love her very much mother and it is wonderful how you and her are able to become friends so easily."

"But Shiki," she warned, "Rima seems to be a little distant though."

He sighed, "Mother, if you are kind to her she will return the favour and soon you'll make her into one of your very best friends. Trust me; Rima is one of the best girls that I have bought to you to seek approval. I don't want to disappoint her either; today we had a little argument concerning something that she misinterpreted. I would like for you to be more sensitive about your words please."

He left his mother to tend to Rima who was standing outside seemingly wondering what he and his mother were talking about. "My mother," he smiled, "thinks that you are very good for me and she thinks of you very highly. Although, we must hurry if we are to visit your parents before the sun sets and we have to return to Cross Academy for Night Class."

They bid farewell to Shiki's mother and without a question or his father they set off once more; carried by the wind to Rima's parent's place. When they were approaching the place Shiki was stunned at the magnificence of the place and the general size of the foundation and structure. "Your parents must have worked hard to get this type of place for you to stay."

"No," she blushed, "actually it is an inheritance from one of our ancestors." They knocked on the door together and were greeted by her mother.

"Well, Rima; what strikes this visit home?" She questioned as she opened the door and spied Shiki, "and who's this?"

"This is Shiki, mother; I hope that you two will be able to get along well. I hope that he and father will be able to get along also. He is my boyfriend mother. I am hoping that you two will be able to get along very well."She grinned as she left the door open for Shiki to come in also. Her house was full of antiques that were perched precariously on shelves that also seemed to be antiques. Shiki commented on how 'nice' the antiques were and how they would guide the value of her house sky high.

"Thank you Shiki; I and Rima's father love to look for antiques that we will be able to display in our home. Although; many of these antique that you see here are family heirlooms that we have inherited from our ancestors." She commented as she led Rima and Shiki into the kitchen to make them something to eat. "You must be hungry from your trip from Cross Academy to our house."

Rima stopped her as she was about to turn the stove on, "actually, mother we were planning to go back to Cross Academy to get something to eat before we had our Night Class to go to. I'll see you later mother; I'm sorry Shiki that you weren't able to meet my father but I think that if we don't go now we'll be late for Night Class."

They stepped outside and leapt into the air once more to get back to Cross Academy the fastest way that they could. Once they had got back they didn't notice that the Day Class had already ended and the Day Students were returning to their dorms. There were a majority of females that were waiting at the Night Class' gate but they didn't notice as they were setting down.

It was too late and before they knew it the whole group of Day Students were staring at them and not the approaching Night Class. "Why are they staring at us Rima?" He questioned buttoning up his jacket again.

"I think that they saw our landing; idiot." He shrugged his shoulders and took her hand leading her into their classroom. She looked back at the Day Students who were in awe of her and were now fighting the arms of Yuki trying to hold them back.

That was one of the good things about Shiki; he knew how to handle things and was able to take care of her. It was a relief that he also worked as a model. She hoped that one day he would be able to work with her on a modelling job. They took the stroll to the classrooms through the falling cherry blossoms, savouring the moment.

**END OF CHAPTER TEN**

Thank you for reading and I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter of the story. I promise that it will be more interesting in the next chapter :) Please review


	11. Smiling With You

**CHAPTER ELEVEN- SMILING WITH YOU**

She opened her eyes slowly as she woke from the deep sleep that she was in. She was in Shiki's room but Shiki wasn't there. It was puzzling; he had never left her without giving her some notice of what was going on. She tried to focus onto where he was but she could not find him.

There was a knock at the door; when she opened it Shiki was there but somehow he wasn't there. She hugged him but it seemed like an empty hug because he was half-hearted and didn't give much thought to her hugging him. There was something different in his eyes also; one was silvery blue and one was the darkest of red. "Who are you?" she questioned as she released from the awkward hug.

The man that was standing before her wasn't who it seemed to be, "who are you?" She repeated as she backed away with caution. He wasn't listening to her and pushed her aside; knocking her unconscious.

Rima was right; it wasn't Shiki; it was someone that had taken over his body. While she was unconscious there was something that connected her and Shiki's mind together that helped him to overcome the power of Rido's thoughts. Although he had fallen unconscious also in his dorm his thoughts were drawn to Rima. It was a while before he woke up but when he had the first thought that struck his mind was that of Rima. He ran to her dorm and held onto her hand waiting for her to wake up.

She finally woke up; slowly opening her eyes to a startled Shiki, "Rima; I hope that you're okay. I'm sorry for what I did."

She touched his face to comfort him, "don't worry about it Shiki; I knew that there was some shred of Shiki in that shameless person." He was appreciating of her comments and climbed into the bed and they lay side by side just staring at the ceiling. They didn't say a word to each other; just letting the comforting silence fills the emptiness. "Do you think that they are doing okay fighting Rido?"

"I think that they'll be okay; we must have faith with Kaname and his plans to take out the evil people of our world.

"What do you think about us? Do you think that we'll be able to go on after this commotion has finished?"

"I think that we'll be fine as long as we stay in communication with each other. I'm sure that after we finish our fight with Rido that my cousin will make sure that the Night Class will be abolished.

The sun rose causing them to get out of Rima's bed; "do you think that they are finished?"

He looked out of the window, "yes, they're finished with the fighting. The entire front gate has been demolished; probably by Chairman Cross."

"That's good enough for me." She climbed out of bed and slipped on a proper dress and coat. She also packed her suitcase and got ready to leave Cross Academy, "you should pack also." He left obediently to pack his suitcase. She stared out of her dorm window at the demolished gate.

'Time that I took the chance to appreciate my time here,' she thought as she locked her suitcase and slipped on a coat. She walked seductively to Shiki's dorm in an effort to excite him for what lay ahead of leaving Cross Academy. He knocked her onto his bed and started nuzzling her neck, "I don't think that this is the time or the place for this; can we go now?" He offered his hand to her and lifted her up.

"We should go."

They climbed over the rubble together as Rima shielded the both of them from the blinding sunlight. They took one last look at Cross Academy before they climbed into their car and left Cross Academy forever. It was the end of an era; they both agreed that Kaname would be fine with them being on their own. They both knew that Kaname had used them as his pawns just to protect his precious Yuuki from Rido harming them.

END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN AND END OF THE SERIES

Thank you for reading and I hope that you will review- I like hearing your comments.


End file.
